Stylish Syllabus: Ten Essential Fashion Books for Fall

This time of year, the world is already training its eyes on the spring runways and the season ahead, but a host of new titles offers a refreshing perspective on some of fashion’s most fascinating moments and origins. From a visual chronicle of Alexander McQueen’s final collection to the history of the signature Louis Vuitton bag to a new biography of iconoclast model turned photographer Lee Miller, here are ten new fashion books you’ll want to add to your shelf this fall.

Alexander McQueen: Working Process by Nick WaplingtonWhen Alexander McQueen commissioned Nick Waplington to document the making of his fall 2009 collection, the photographer had no idea he would be capturing McQueen’s final body of work. Titled The Horn of Plenty, the show was a history of the designer’s career to date, as he revisited his fifteen years of provocative, groundbreaking clothes and recycled ideas in a new collection. In essence, it was his swan song. Waplington’s photos of McQueen and his staff, including current creative director Sarah Burton, are interspersed with images of landscapes—the waste grounds near McQueen’s hometown, and landfills in the Negev desert in Israel—which make for additional commentary on the recycling theme of the collection. Because McQueen himself edited the book’s layout, “it is also a personal record of Lee’s imagination,” Waplington writes, “his vision of himself, and a tribute to the many important and lasting relationships he had with all those who worked alongside him.” (Damiani, October 31)artbook.com

Amber, Guinevere, and Kate Photographed by Craig McDean: 1993–2005 by Craig McDean, Mathias Augustyniak, and Glenn O’BrienThis compilation of Craig McDean’s work highlights the moment in fashion when the focus of the photographer’s lens shifted from the supermodels of the eighties to the waiflike girls who helped usher in the era of nineties grunge—specifically, Kate Moss, Guinevere Van Seenus, and Amber Valletta. Organized chronologically, the volume tracks McDean’s three muses from 1992 through 2002, and includes contact sheets, unpublished photographs, and outtakes from famous shoots. (Rizzoli, October 22)rizzoliusa.com

Swans: Legends of the Jet Society by Nicholas Foulkes“There was a time when the jet was not taken for granted, when it was an agent of societal change every bit as profound as television and the contraceptive pill,” writes Nicholas Foulkes in his preface to Swans. He’s referring to the year 1957, when the number of people traveling by plane finally surpassed those crossing the Atlantic by boat, and Jet Society was born. Foulkes follows the Babe Paleys, Grace Kellys, and Fiona Thyssens from the French Riviera, to Acapulco and Marrakech, charting not only their movements but their marriages, divorces, friendships, and, of course, fashions. “The Swans of jet society had perfected the art of nonchalant elegance, never admitting to others or themselves that they lived primarily to wear clothes and certainly never letting slip that the remotest bit of work went into their appearance,” continues the author. With images of exotic coastlines, decadent yacht parties, gilded seaside mansions, the book is a stylish tribute to a bygone era. (Assouline, October 15)assouline.com

Dior Glamour: 1952–1962 by Mark ShawAs Life’s contributing photographer in Paris, Mark Shaw found himself frequently photographing the House of Dior—so often, in fact, that the years between 1952 to 1962 became known as “Mark Shaw’s Dior Decade.” After all, this was long before the days of Instagram and Snapchat, and his access to runway rehearsals and client fittings was unprecedented (and resulted in some of the world’s first color fashion photographs). As talented as he was, it was his demeanor that truly helped him earn the trust of the House. “Mainly, I try to create an atmosphere of a friend taking their picture, rather than a professional,” reads a quote from Shaw in the introduction. And it wasn’t just the fashion industry that let him in: During the Kennedy years, Shaw was an unofficial White House photographer and made portraits of many socialites and actresses, including, famously, Elizabeth Taylor. Dior Glamour features more than 140 of these images, many of which have only recently been discovered in a secret vault by his estate. (Rizzoli, October 15)rizzoliusa.comLouis Vuitton City Bags: A Natural History by Jean-Claude Kaufmann, Ian Luna, Florence Muller, Mariko Nishitani, and Colombe Pringle“It is impossible to understand a woman’s bag if one thinks only of utility. Because first and foremost comes emotions, memories—an entire world of sentiments and relationships,” writes Jean-Claude Kaufmann in an essay titled “The Heart of the Self,” included in Louis Vuitton City Bags. The volume—which comes enveloped in a richly hued marbleized cover—takes the sociology of fashion seriously, tracing the development of Vuitton’s trademark bags through “a system mimicking the scientific classification of plants and animals.” Think X-rays, deconstructed patterns, and a family tree that connects the Malle-Armoir trunk c. 1875 to the Neverfull bag, introduced in 2007 and seen on many a subway rider today. But it’s not all academia: Interviews with Vuitton collaborating artists Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama, vintage paparazzi shots, and fun packing lists (for example, what “an elegant lady might have brought to attend a cocktail party in the provinces around 1960”) round out the book. (Rizzoli, October 15)rizzoliusa.comLee Miller in Fashion by Becky E. ConekinWhen a photojournalist dubbed Lee Miller “one of the most photographed girls in Manhattan,” the Vogue model retorted, “I’d rather take a picture than be in one.” And take them, she did, abandoning her job as a Condé Nast mannequin to become an equally successful fashion photographer and later, a war correspondent—capturing the liberation of concentration camps as well as daily life in battle-torn northern France during World War II. But Miller’s intrigue goes beyond her remarkable, iconoclastic career; husbands and lovers (such as Man Ray) took her from New York to Paris to Cairo and back, yet she remained an utter individual. Conekin’s engaging, well-researched biography is supplemented by a wealth of visual information, including archival photographs, contact sheets, memos, and illustrations. (Monacelli Press, October 8)monacellipress.com

The Anatomy of Fashion: Why We Dress the Way We Do by Colin McDowellFor all the hullabaloo surrounding street style, one often forgets that clothes are first and foremost a means of protecting the body. Colin McDowell is placing new emphasis on this fact, presenting a history of fashion as it relates to human anatomy. Starting from the head and making his way down to the toes, he examines the historical, cultural, and geographical references associated with each part of the body. A section on the head, for example, considers the papal crown, burqas, Che Guevara’s black beret, and Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hat. “Our dress is a carapace to shield us,” he writes, “but also a billboard to project what we wish the world to know about our physical, social, and economic status.” To that end, he includes a final section that examines how all the various parts come together to form “fashion.” (Phaidon, September 30)phaidon.com

The World According to Karl: The Wit and Wisdom of Karl Lagerfeld edited by Jean-Christophe Napias and Sandrine Gulbenkian, illustrated by Charles AmelineIt took months of mining magazines, newspapers, interviews, and documentaries to fill the pages of this book with Karl Lagerfeld quotes. But the result is a collection of the iconic designer’s equally iconic maxims, presented in cheeky—and highly giftable—form. And although Karl’s words could stand on entertainment value alone, “the results presented here make up a sort of indirect self-portrait, one facet (or chapter) at a time, the personal statement of a life view that, for all its fragmentary nature, gives us a detailed and captivating picture of a true ‘irregular,’ ” writes Patrick Mauriès in his introduction. Take, for example, “I want to be a chic coat hanger,” “I don’t recommend myself as a guest,” and “I only know how to play one role: Me.” Of course, we wouldn’t have him any other way. (Flammarion, available now)rizzoliusa.com

Tahiti: Faery Lands: François Nars by François NarsWhen François Nars launched his namesake makeup line in 1994, he saved money by shooting his own advertising campaign, and simultaneously discovered a new passion for the camera. Though he’s since contributed images to fashion magazines like Japanese Vogue, his forthcoming book brings a new subject into focus: French Polynesia. Nars has spent the past decade photographing his private island off the coast of Tahiti, turning his lens on the Motu Tane landscapes and natives. The result, compiled with the help of art director Giovanni Bianco, is a sepia-toned picture album that beautifully captures the mesmerizing islands. (Rizzoli, October 15)rizzoliusa.com